Day 45 - Winds of change

We probably are one of the most blessed cyclists on the TransAm. We crossed Kansas in 7 days and only had one and a half days headwinds. Most of the time the wind was on our side which meant we could easily do our minimum daily mileage of 80 km (50 miles). The most important factor in Kansas is the direction of the wind. One day we did 30 km (19 miles) in less than one hour and the next day it took us 2,5 hours for the same distance. Yesterday we did 145 km (85 miles) which was our longest stage so far and with tailwinds we even thought about to continue to reach the 100 miles target. But we already were close to Pueblo, Colorado, so we decided to stay in a little town named Ordway. Because of the winds and the heat we get up really early and try to be on the road at 8am which means our nights get shorter. Two nights earlier our night was even shorter, cause as we pitched our tent in the city park of Scott City we realized that the sprinkler sytems switched on. We tried to defend our tent against the water fountains and unfortunatelly one big sprinkler was one meter beneath our sleeping place. It was almost 1 am when we went to sleep.

The landscape changed dramatically. The beginning of Kansas was very green with lots of trees and meadows and meanwhile we are in a dessert like surrounding. We now have a dry and barren landscape with lots of nothing. Even the population of the towns we passed got fewer and distances between towns increased. One day we had to deal with 100 km (62 miles) of a single straight road without any service stop or water supplies or houses. This was more a mental challenge than a physical one.

Now we are in little motel in Pueblo and can see the Rockies from our window (is this snow over there?). Benjamin is still with us and he will leave us in two days. We will really miss him cause he pushed and entertained us. It was a great time with him. On wednesday shit is getting serious... :)

Biker hints:
- Larned, KS. Biker friendly town, nice city park, free pool for cyclists!
- Rush Center, KS, nice burger restaurant as you turn on highway 96.
- Scott City, KS, be aware of the sprinkler system in the city park!

Total mileage so far: 3719 km (2324 miles) 

Day 36 - Teamwork makes the dream work

Last time we blogged we spoke about crossing Missouri. And now, only 6 days later we answer from Pittsburg, Kansas! Days really went by quickly and we progressed well. Last sunday we met Finley, a retired school teacher from Arkansas, and Benjamin, an art student from Leipzig. We met them at Al's place in Farmington, MO, a real paradise for cyclists. It is almost like a hotel, but only for TransAm cyclists. The next morning Finley and Benjamin started earlier than we did, but after one hour of riding we catched up with them. We stayed together the whole day and talked a lot. We decided to stay together the next days because we really enjoyed the company of these two guys. When you ride in a group you are able to do more miles than expected, and thanks to the group ride we did 95 KM (59 miles) plus this week. Finley left us and went south to Arkansas yesterday. We hope he can enjoy all the comforts of being home again. It was a pleasure to meet you! :)

The weather last week was very contrary. One day we had three thunderstorms and lots of rain, and the other day we had 30 degrees celcius (86 degrees farenheit) and it was very humid. But in total we were very lucky with the weather because we only cycled on the edges of the huge thunderstorms...

As we entered Missouri on sunday we thought the worst mountainous part is over now. But then all of a sudden we had to cross the Ozarks. We had no idea that there are "mountains" between the appalachian and the rocky mountains. So once again we had to deal with steep climbs and downhill parts. But the further we went, the better it got. It is getting better and better (flatter and flatter) and the hills nearly dissapeared so we could increase speed. Yesterday for example, we had a nice sidewind from south and it only took us about two and a half hours to do our last 50KM (33 miles) of the day. It was a good preparation for Kansas by the way, because we had to cycle one single road. This is going to be normal in Kansas...

We met some cyclist going east and they all talked about heay headwinds in Kansas. So we might be lucky and have tailwinds on some days. Kansas here we come!

Hints for cyclists:
- Al's place in Farmington, MO (probably the best accomondation on the entire TransAm route!)
- Barham house, Ash Grove, MO (ask local police officer)
- Cooky's Cafe, Golden City, MO (Delicious burgers and pies!)

Total mileage so far: 2643Km (1642 miles)

Follow Finley on 》http://www.yakfishonabike.com/blog
Follow Benjamin on 》https://cyclingusa.wordpress.com